THE WAR GOD was smugly waiting for them in the parking lot of the diner. "Well, well," he called out. "You didn't get yourself killed."
"You knew it was a trap," Percy accused. Ares gave him a wicked grin. "Bet that crippled blacksmith-"
"Hey," Loralai warned.
Waving her off, Ares said, "Yeah, yeah little blacksmith, I know he's your dad. Explains a lot." He looked her up and down judgmentally and Loralai frowned, taking a step back.
Ares continued, "Old Hephaestus probably looked surprised when he netted a couple of stupid kids. You looked good on TV. I would say congratulations on getting claimed, but when it's him... I give you condolences."
Percy shoved his shield at him. "You're a jerk."
Annabeth and Grover caught their breath.
Ares grabbed the shield and spun it in the air like pizza dough. It changed form, melting into a bulletproof vest. He slung it across his back. "See that truck over there?" He pointed to an eighteen-wheeler parked across the street from the diner. "That's your ride. Take you straight to L.A., with one stop in Vegas."
The eighteen-wheeler had a sign on the back, which they could read only because it was reverse-printed white on black, a good combination for dyslexia: KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL: HUMANE ZOO TRANSPORT. WARNING: LIVE WILD ANIMALS.
Percy said, "You're kidding."
Ares snapped his fingers. The back door of the truck unlatched. "Free ride west, punk. Stop complaining. And here's a little something for doing the job." He slung a blue nylon backpack off his handlebars and tossed it to Loralai.
Inside were fresh clothes for all of them, twenty bucks in cash, a pouch full of golden drachmas and a bag of Double Stuf Oreo. Percy peeked over her shoulder, assessing the content before he started to say, "I don't want your lousy-"
"Thank you, Lord Ares," Grover interrupted, giving Percy his best red-alert warning look. "That's a lot."
Loralai forced herself to smile towards the muscly man as Percy gritted his teeth. It was probably a deadly insult to refuse something from a god, but Percy didn't want anything that Ares had touched, he could tell Loralai was still recovering from the judgmental look the godly man had given her earlier.
Reluctantly, she slung the backpack over her shoulder, passing her old one to Percy who snatched it from her, still glaring at Ares.
He knew that his anger was being caused by the war god's presence, but he was still itching to punch him in the nose. He reminded him of every bully he'd ever faced: Nancy Bobofit, Clarisse, Smelly Gabe, sarcastic teachers- every jerk who'd called him stupid in school or laughed at him when he'd got expelled.
Percy remembered that, technically, Loralai wasn't classed in that category. They were sort of acquaintances now, he still recalled her saying that all she was trying to do was help him. His anger subsided. Had he ever apologized for that?
He glimpsed at Loralai, who was staring at the diner, which only had a couple of customers now.
The waitress who'd served them dinner was watching nervously out the window, like she was afraid Ares might hurt them. She dragged the cook out from the kitchen to see. She said something to him. He nodded, held up a little disposable camera and snapped a picture of them.
Great, Loralai thought. We'll make the papers again tomorrow. Percy swiftly caught onto what was happening, frowning as he imagined the headline: TWELVE-YEAR-OLD OUTLAWS BEAT UP DEFENSELESS BIKER.
"You owe me one more thing," Percy told Ares, trying to keep his voice level. "You promised me information about my mother."
The war god got onto his motorcycle. "You sure you can handle the news?" He kick-started the bike then declared, "She's not dead." The ground seemed to spin beneath Percy as his eyes glittered with hope. Loralai bit her lip, Percy definitely couldn't handle that, even if he thought he could.
"What do you mean?" Percy's question came out smaller and more high-pitched than he intended. "I mean she was taken away from the Minotaur right before she could die. She was turned into a shower of gold, right? That's metamorphosis. Not death. She's being kept," Ares reiterated.
"Kept. Why?"
Chuckling, Ares said, "You need to study war, punk. Hostages. You take somebody to control somebody else." Percy puffed out his chest. "Nobody's controlling me." The god laughed. "Oh yeah? See you around, kid."
Percy balled his fists, Loralai could tell he was about to say something stupid. "You're pretty smug, Lord Ares," he said, "for a guy who runs from Cupid statues."
Behind his sunglasses, fire glowed. Percy felt a hot wind breeze his hair. This fire wasn't like Loralai's. It was filled with rage, power, and fear. "We'll meet again, Percy Jackson. Next time you're in a fight, watch your back."
He revved his Harley, then roared off down Delancy Street.
Loralai pursed her lips nervously. "Now Mr. Harley Dick-inson is gonna make our quest even harder," she muttered. "Good one, seaweed brain." Percy tossed his arms in the air. "I don't care, lava." She made a face at the nickname, he hadn't used it in awhile.
Annabeth backed up her best friend, "You don't want a god as your enemy. Especially not that god."
"Hey, guys," Grover spoke up. "I hate to interrupt, but..."
He pointed a finger towards the diner. At the cash register, the last two customers were paying their bill, two men in identical black coveralls, with a white logo on their backs that matched the one on the KINDNESS INTERNATIONAL truck.
"If we're taking the zoo express," Grover told them, "we need to hurry."
Nobody liked it, but they had no better option. Besides, they'd seen enough of Denver. The mountains were beautiful, but their water parks suck. The group ran across the street and climbed in the back of the big lorry, closing the doors behind them.
The first thing that hit Loralai was the smell. It was like the world's biggest pan of kitty litter. The trailer was dark inside until Percy uncapped Anaklusmos.
Loralai wanted to make fire sprout from her hands or something for an alternate light source, but she figured she wasn't exactly in the right mindset to do so. She'd have to work on controlling it when she got back to camp... and... her cabin! How could she forget? Caliz would be in her cabin, she'd finally have space and an outlet to figure out her strengths and weaknesses.
She imagined the distraught on Oliver's face when he figured out that he lost the bet. For a moment, she wanted to IM them right then and there, but that kind of thing... she'd need to see it in person. She smiled just thinking about it.
That smile soon faded when the faint bronze light from Riptide cast a light over a very sad scene. Sitting in a row of filthy metal cages were three of the most pathetic zoo animals she'd ever beheld: a zebra, a male albino lion and some weird antelope thing she didn't know the name for.
Hey, she wanted to be an engineer, not a biologist. They're completely different science courses!
Someone had thrown the lion a sack of turnips, which he obviously didn't want to eat. The zebra and the antelope had each gotten a polystyrene tray of hamburger meat.
The zebra's mane was matted with chewing gum, like someone had been spitting on it in their spare time. The antelope had a stupid silver birthday balloon tied to one of his horns that read OVER THE HILL!
Apparently, nobody had wanted to get close enough to the lion to mess with him, but the poor thing was pacing around on soiled blankets, in a space way too small for him, panting from the stuffy heat of the trailer. He had flies buzzing around his pink eyes and his ribs showed through his white fur.
"This is kindness?" Grover yelled. Loralai motioned for him to quiet down, too afraid that the drivers would hear them. The satyr quieted down, but the venom in his tone was still prominent as he repeated, "Humane zoo transport?"
He probably would've gone right back outside to beat up the truckers with his reed pipes, and she probably would've helped him, but just then the truck's engine roared to life, the trailer started shaking, and they were forced to sit down or fall down.
They huddled together in the corner on some mildewed feed sacks, trying to ignore the smell and the heat and the flies. Grover talked to the animals in a series of goat bleats, but they just stared at him sadly.
Annabeth was in favor of breaking the cages and freeing them on the spot, but Percy pointed out it wouldn't do much good until the truck stopped moving. Besides, he had a feeling they might look a lot better to the lion than those turnips.
Loralai suggested that they should swap the food, and they all agreed. Percy found a water jug and refilled their bowls whilst Loralai used her sword to drag the mismatched food out of their cages. She gave meat to the lion and the turnips to the zebra and the antelope.
Grover calmed the antelope down, while Annabeth used her knife to cut the balloon off his horn. She wanted to cut the gum out of the zebra's mane, too, but they decided that would be too risky with the truck bumping around.
Loralai told Grover to promise the animals we'd help them more in the morning, then the group settled in for the night.
Grover curled up on a turnip sack; Annabeth opened their bag of Double Stuf Oreos and nibbled on one half-heartedly. Loralai rested her back against the cage of the zebra and sighed.
Percy tried to cheer himself up by concentrating on the fact that they were halfway to Los Angeles, their destination, but Loralai could tell he was stressed by the way he was frowning and constantly adjusting the way he was sitting.
It was only June fourteenth. The solstice wasn't until the twenty-first. They could make it in plenty of time. On the other hand, they had no idea what to expect next. The gods kept toying with Percy. And even if everyone acted like they weren't bothered by it, he knew they were.
At least Hephaestus had the decency to be honest about it, even if it was possibly a plan to elaborately identify his daughter. Despite the happiness Loralai felt being claimed, Percy couldn't help but feel angry how he had advertised it as entertainment. Still, he didn't want to burst her bubble.
Percy had a feeling their quest was being watched. He was a source of amusement for the gods. "Hey," Annabeth called out through the trailer. "Sorry again for freaking out at the waterpark, it was the spiders." The girl shuddered then said, "The Arachne story."
Everyone called out their forgiveness. Loralai looked up from where she was staring at the ground. Percy was sitting parallel to her, leaning on the trailer's wall.
Here they were again, in a dark place as Annabeth and Grover rested, haunted to stay awake. "I owe you," Loralai muttered, her voice sounding hoarse from all the screaming that day.
The boy nodded. "We make a good team, remember? Either of us couldn't have done it without each other," he said. "Besides, Grover did the fancy flying."
They had thought he was asleep, but he mumbled from the corner, "I was pretty amazing, wasn't I?" Loralai and Percy laughed.
Loralai crawled the short distance to a sleeping Annabeth and slowly took the Double Stuf Oreos out of her hands. She crawled back, pulling one out of the packet with a crinkle, pulling it apart and handing Percy a half. "The iris message with Luke... did he really say nothing?"
Percy munched his cookie and thought about how to answer. The conversation via rainbow had bothered him all evening. "Luke said you, him and Annabeth go way back. He also said Grover wouldn't fail this time. Nobody would turn into a pine tree."
In the dim bronze light of the sword blade, it was hard for Percy to read their expressions. Even if it was lighter in the trailer, he still couldn't have comprehended the mixed emotions Grover and Loralai were sleeping. Annabeth stirred in her sleep, but Loralai could tell she was still in a deep sleep by the way she began lightly snoring.
Grover let out a mournful bray. "I should've told you the truth from the beginning, it wasn't just Loralai, Annabeth, and Luke I was supposed to bring to camp." His voice trembled. "I thought if you knew what a failure I was, you wouldn't want me along."
"You were the satyr who tried to rescue Thalia, the daughter of Zeus," Percy guessed. The satyr nodded glumly. "And... you must've been her friend, right?" Percy asked Loralai. There was an obvious answer, but Loralai nodded slowly, putting down her Oreo, uneaten.
"A seven-year-old wouldn't have made it very far without help. Grover came to get me before social services could, then we found Thalia, Luke, and Annabeth. All of us had run away from home, we were happy to get away. Luke and Thalia... they were amazing monster-fighters, even without training. Me and Annabeth were just kids, we didn't..."
"I was supposed to escort Thalia to camp," he said, sniffling.
"Only Thalia. I had strict orders from Chiron: don't do anything that would slow down the rescue. We knew Hades was after her, see, but I was going through town when I heard about Loralai and... I couldn't just leave Luke and Annabeth, too. I thought I could lead all three of them to safety. It was my fault the Kindly Ones caught up with us. I froze. I got scared on the way back to camp and took some wrong turns. If I'd just been a bit quicker..."
"Grover, no," Loralai stopped him. "No one blames you. Thalia didn't blame you, either."
"She sacrificed herself to save us," the satyr said miserably. "Her death was my fault. The Council of Cloven Elders said so."
"Because you wouldn't leave three other demigods behind?" Percy said. "That's not fair."
"He's right," Loralai agreed. "I don't care what some council says, you saved us. We would've died out there, but me, Annabeth, and Luke made it to camp. Now look at us." She motioned around. "Our first quest!"
Grover kept sniffling in the dark. "It's just my luck. I'm the lamest satyr ever, and I find the two most powerful half-bloods of the century, Thalia and Percy. And the first fire-controlling Hephaestus kid in centuries..."
"You're not lame," Loralai assured him, gulping as she was reminded of the rumors that would be spread when she got to camp, and the pressure of her powers. The first fire-controlling Hephaestus kid in centuries....
She struggled to continue, "You've got more courage than any satyr I've ever met. And I've met a lot, gone on missions with a lot, none of them would ever go to the Underworld like we're about to do. You're brave, and I bet Percy is really glad you're here right now."
She kicked his shin, urging him to take over. "Yeah," he confirmed, something he would've said even without the kick. "It's not luck you found Thalia and me, Grover. You've got the biggest heart of any satyr ever. You're a natural searcher. That's why you'll be the one who finds Pan."
A deep, satisfied sigh rang out through the trailer. Percy waited for Grover to say something, but his breathing only got heavier. When the sound turned to snoring, he realized he'd fallen asleep.
"How does he do that?" Percy marveled. Loralai smiled and said, "No idea. It was really nice, what you told him." The boy shrugged. "I meant it."
They rode in silence for a few miles, bumping around on the feed sacks. The zebra munched a turnip. The lion licked the last of the hamburger meat off his lips and looked at Percy hopefully. Road beneath them sounded like muffled radio and Loralai frowned as she twirled the pine tree bead on her camp necklace in her fingers.
"The pine-tree bead," Percy said. "Is that from your first year?"
"Mhm," Loralai hummed sadly, looking down at it as the bumps of the painted leaves nudged her fingers.
"In August, the counselors pick the most important event of the summer, and they paint it on that year's bead. I've got Thalia's pine tree, a Greek trireme on fire, a centaur in a prom dress- now that was a weird summer..." Her voice trailed off, the other necklace on her chest literally burning her for attention.
She winced, bringing the necklace out. The gold was bright, like it had been set on fire, lighting up Loralai's features. "What the..." Percy commented. Loralai examined it, eyebrows furrowed.
"It's been doing this a lot recently. Burning me, I mean. It's never glowed like this before," She told him, cautiously twisting it around. She didn't know what she was looking for exactly. A source of the heat? Fire?
Percy tilted his head. "Maybe you've been setting it on fire without knowing it?" He pointed to her chest, where there was a burn mark on her Waterpark tank top. She was still yet to get changed into the new clothes Ares had given them.
Following his finger, she looked down at her chest, clasping a hand over the burn mark. Loralai could feel her heart abnormally beating underneath her calloused hands. Her breath hitched. Stuttering, she told herself and Percy, "It's.. it's nothing."
"So, you haven't visited your mom?" Percy mentioned. Loralai shot him a fiery glare, something he could only barely make out in the lighting. "I'm just saying... you should write her a letter or something."
"Thanks for the advice," Loralai replied coldly. "She wants nothing to do with me. Plus, she's crazy, remember? Doubt she could even read it."
They passed another mile. Loralai felt a little resentment about his good relationship with his mother, because he truly couldn't comprehend that others didn't have a good relationship with theirs. Still, sometimes she thought back to her childhood memories.
The bittersweet but faint memories mainly consisted of her playing with two other children, both boys with tan skin like hers. A few times she had recalled memories of her mother's warm aura. It was a strange feeling, looking back on warm memories and feeling utterly cold.
"So if the gods fight," Percy said, "will things line up like they did in the Trojan war? Will it be Athena versus Poseidon? Will you be on Poseidon's side like Hephaestus?"
Loralai grabbed the bag Ares had tossed her and zipped it shut, resting her head on it. The bag was soft due to the clothes inside of it, she let out a relaxed sigh. "I haven't even talked to my dad properly yet, and at the waterpark... he's unpredictable."
There was a moment of silence before Loralai added, "I just know I'll fight next to you." Percy looked at her. Her Dutch braids were messier now, especially since the water had gotten rid of all the mousse, her amber eyes stared back at him for his sea green ones for a moment, almost glowing like her necklace in the dark, before fluttering shut.
He managed to rip his gaze away from her. "Why?" He asked, his tone made him sound insecure. "You let me help you, I'll let you help me," she reminded him of his words in the forest, right before they had run into Medusa. "Any more obvious questions, Seaweed Brain?"
Percy couldn't think of an answer for that. Fortunately he didn't have to. Loralai was asleep.
-
THAT NIGHT, LORALAI'S dream was different. It wasn't as scary and complicated as the ones she has had before.
She was standing in front of a throne, a black throne in a room full of fire. She looked down at her clothing, a long white robe with gold details, something which also covered her hair. The room smelt like the South: fresh grass, dry & hot air, the faint smell of cow crap.
The man on the throne... Hades spoke, "L." Somehow the girl knew that he wasn't talking to her, despite him saying the first letter of her name.
His voice sounded Middle-Eastern, and if Loralai squinted, she could've sworn he looked Omani. As if the woman, the other L, read her mind, she looked him up and down and said, "Sir, you are Omani, correct?" Hades nodded. Loralai knew he was lying, the gods were all Greek. Why was he taking the form of an Omani man? To trick this woman?
"I have traveled here from Oman, you bring me familiarity. My father in law is here. He is unwell," the woman told him. "That is unfortunate, madam," Hades said. "And your husband?"
"Has foolish dreams of carrying on a family tradition in Texas, a workshop," the woman said.
There was a pause, L smacked her lips and continued, "My husband was traveling in Oman and met me, and for a while we lived there. But now we are moving here, I am just observing the area whilst my husband is searching the country for investors, he is taking quite a while..." Her voice trailed off. Loralai had a feeling that 'a while' probably meant the husband had abandoned her.
Hades smiled, even though it wasn't visible, the warmth radiating to Loralai's chest. "Do you have children?" The woman chuckled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yes, one daughter. I wish I had more but..." The tone in her voice was sad, longing.
"Such a beautiful woman should follow her dreams," Hades said. Loralai screamed in disgust, but the sound ended up coming out of the woman.
The God of Death swiftly turned back into a form almost like a demon, charging at Loralai with red eyes and looming over her like a terrible shadow. "She should've stayed with me! Now look at what that nephew of mine has done!"
Loralai woke with a jolt, hyperventilating. The necklace on her chest was burning again. Groaning, she sat herself upright. Grover and Annabeth were awake, but not paying attention. Percy was still asleep, twitching as he was probably having a nightmare. She wanted to wake him up, but it might've been important, so she decided against it.
Stretching, Loralai thought about her dream. Now look at what that nephew of mine has done. He was talking about Hephaestus.
But why was it such a bad thing that her mother had a baby with him? Why was Hades, out of all people, so angry about it? That woman in her dream wasn't her mother, he had called her L. But it wasn't Loralai, either.
But, the dream was so vivid, so clear. The message wasn't distorted. Hades wanted to tell her something, and he wasn't making it some sort of a riddle, so it must be important...
Suddenly the truck's vibrating stopped. The three awake shared a look as they realized it was stopped. Grover rushed over to Percy, shaking his shoulder. Percy woke up with a start. "The truck's stopped," the satyr said. "We think they're coming to check on the animals."
"Hide!" Annabeth hissed. The blonde had it easy, she just put on her magic cap and disappeared. The other three, Loralai, Percy, and Grover had to dive behind feed sacks and hoped they looked like turnips.
The trailer doors creaked open. Sunlight and heat poured in. "Man!" One of the truckers said, waving his hand in front of his ugly noise. "I wish I hauled appliances." He climbed inside and poured some water from a jug into the animals' dishes.
"You hot, big boy?" he asked the lion, then splashed the rest of the bucket in the lion's face. The lion roared in indignation. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," the man said.
Next to Percy, under the turnip sacks, Grover tense. For a peace-loving herbivore, he looked downright murderous.
The trucker threw the antelope a squashed-looking Happy Meal bag. He smirked at the zebra. "How ya doin', Stripes? Least we'll be getting rid of you this stop. You like magic shows? You're gonna love this one. They're gonna saw you in half!"
The zebra, wild-eyes with fear, looking straight at Percy. There was no sound, but Loralai became aware that the zebra was definitely talking to Percy. Does a zebra even class as a horse? She guessed it must do.
There was a loud knock, knock, knock on the side of the trailer. The trucker inside with them yelled, "What do you want, Eddie?" A voice outside- it must've been Eddie's- shouted back, "Maurice? What'd ya say?"
Louder, the trucker, Maurice, yelled, "What are you banging for?" Knock, knock, knock. Outside, Eddie yelled back, "What banging?" Our guy Maurice rolled his eyes and went back outside, cursing at Eddie for being an idiot.
A second later, Annabeth appeared next to the trip. She must've done the banging to get Maurice out of the trailer. She said, "This transport business can't be legal."
"No kidding," Grover said. He paused, as if listening. "The lion says these guys are animal smugglers! We've got to free them!" He and Annabeth both looked at Loralai and Percy, waiting for one of them to lead.
Expectantly staring at the horse-whisperer, Percy, Loralai could see he was deep in thought. Like she mentioned earlier, she was going to be an engineer, not a biologist, this was onto him to make a plan.
Outside, Eddie and Maurice were still yelling at each other, but they all knew they'd be coming inside to torment the animals again any minute. Percy grabbed Riptide and slashed the lock out of the zebra's cage.
Loralai jumped up alongside the other just as the zebra burst out. It turned to Percy and bowed. Grover held up his hands and said something to the zebra in goat talk, like a blessing.
Just as Maurice was poking his head back inside to check out the noise, the zebra leaped over him and onto the street. There was yelling and screaming and cars honking. They rushed down to the doors of the trailer in time to see the zebra galloping down a wide boulevard lined with hotels and casinos and neon signs. They'd released a zebra in Las Vegas.
Maurice and Eddie ran after it, with a few policemen running after them, shouting, "Hey! You need a permit for that!"
Loralai gulped. "We should leave, now." Annabeth nodded her head furiously in agreement. "The other animals first," Grover insisted. Percy cut the lock with his sword. Grover raised his hands and spoke the same goat-blessing he'd used for the zebra.
"Good luck," Percy told the animals. The antelope and the lion burst out of their cages and went off together onto the street as some tourists screamed. Most just backed off and took pictures, probably thinking it was some kind of stunt by one of the casinos.
"No offense, but how are the animals going to survive in Vegas?" Loralai asked, turning to Grover. "Don't worry," he said. "I placed a satyr's sanctuary on them." Loralai nodded, a few of the satyrs she had worked for had done that with birds that had flown into windows at schools, which is more common than you think. Especially at the wilderness schools.
Percy tilted his head in confusion. "Meaning?"
"Meaning they'll reach the wild safely," Grover explained. "They'll find water, food, shade, whatever they need until they find a safe place to live."
"Why can't you place a blessing like that on us?" Percy asked. Grover answered, "It only worked on wild animals."
"So it would only work on Percy," Loralai reasoned. "Hey!" The boy protested. Loralai threw her hands up in surrender. "Kidding," she said. We're leaving this dirty truck now, please."
No one was against the idea, they stumbled out into the desert afternoon. It was forty degrees, easy, and they must've looked like deep-fried vagrants. Fortunately, everybody was too interested in the wild animals to pay that much attention.
They passed the Monte Carlo, the MGM, pirate ships, and a small replica of the Statue of Liberty that made Percy homesick.
Loralai searched for a place to stay, somewhere busy enough where they wouldn't notice four kids camping out at the back of the hotel or in the hallways.
Percy thought they must've taken a wrong turn, because they found themselves at a dead-end, standing in front of the Lotus Hotel and Casino.
The entrance was a huge neon flower, the petal lighting up and blinking. No one was going in and out, Loralai frowned, it needed to be busy. Despite this the glittering chrome doors were open, spilling out air conditioning that smelt like flowers - lotus blossom.
The girl was about to direct the group away when the doorman smiled at them and said, "Hey, kids. You look tired. You want to come in and sit down?"
Loralai, from her many years of traveling the USA, learnt to be suspicious. Anybody could be a monster or a god. But, this guy seemed to be normal, and Grover wasn't showing any signs that he wasn't.
Besides, she was relieved to hear somebody sympathetic for once. "We'd love to come in," Percy said, nodding.
Inside, they took one look around. Grover exclaimed, "Whoa."
The whole lobby was a giant game room. Not cheesy old Pac-Man games or slot machine kind of games. There was an indoor water slide snaking around the glass elevator, which went straight up at least forty floors. There was a climbing wall on the side of one building, and an indoor jumping bridge.
There were virtual-reality suits with working laser guns. And hundreds of video games, each one the size of a widescreen TV. Basically, you name it, this place had it. There were a few other kids playing, but not that many. No waiting for any games. There were waitresses and snack bars all around, serving every kind of food you can imagine.
"Hey!" A bellhop said. He wore a white-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt with lotus designs, shorts and flip-flops. It reminded Loralai of something Mr. D would wear. "Welcome to the Lotus Casino. Here's your room key."
Percy looked back at the group, stammering, "Um... but..."
"No, no," he said dismissively, laughing. "The bill's taken care of. No extra charges, no tips. Just go on up to the top floor, room 4001. If you need anything, like extra bubbles for the hot tub, or skeet targets for the shooting range, or whatever, just call the front desk. Here are your LotusCash cards. They work in the restaurants and on all the games and rides."
He handed them each a green plastic credit card. They all knew there must be some mistakes. Obviously he thought they were some millionaire's kids, it felt like an episode of JESSIE!
Loralai took hers politely, stepping forward as she said, "How much is on these?" His eyebrows knit together, like he twitched like he was one of the short-circuited spiders from the Thrill Ride O' Love. "When does it run out of cash?" Loralai clarified.
He paused for a second, then laughed, going back to his former cheery self. "Oh, you're making a joke. Hey, that's cool. Enjoy your stay."
They took the elevator upstairs and checked out their room. It was a suite with three separate bedrooms and a bar stocked with candy, sodas and crisps. A hotline to room service. Fluffy towels and waterbeds with feather pillows. A big-screen television with satellite and high-speed Internet.
The balcony had its own hot tub and, sure enough, there was a skeet-shooting machine and a shotgun, so you could launch clay pigeons right out over the Las Vegas skyline and plug them with your gun. None of them could grasp how that was legal.
The view over the Strip and the desert was amazing. Percy doubted they'd ever have time to gaze at the view with a room like this.
"Oh, goodness," Annabeth said. "This place is..."
"Sweet," Grover said. "Tacky," Loralai said at the same time. They all looked at her confused. "Tacky... but cool," she muttered. The others relaxed again and Loralai wondered what that was all about.
There were clothes in the closet, and they fitted each of them. Loralai frowned, thinking that this was a little strange. She tossed Ares' backpack in the trash can, since they clearly wouldn't be needing that anymore. When they left, she could just charge a new one at the hotel store.
The group took a shower, which felt like heaven after a week of grimy travel. Everyone changed clothes, Loralai happily found an outfit that was perfect for the hot weather of Las Vegas in the summer, loose enough that it would let her run around until she passed out from joy. She had taken her Dutch braids out, her brunette hair curly as it flowed slightly past her shoulders.
Loralai looked in the mirror and smiled. What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, she thought giddily. Now she knew what all those Kardashians were talking about. She was ready to have some fun.
Still, she had a tugging feeling at the back of her mind. Like something wasn't right. Loralai sat down on a large fluffy bed next to Annabeth, who had cranked up the volume on the National Geographic Channel, eating a bag of crisps. Grover was sitting on a beanbag eating crisps, also.
Percy came out, in fresh clothes and sipping a can of Coke. "All those stations," Percy told the girls, "and you guys turn on National Geographic. Are you insane?"
Annabeth glared at him. "It's interesting."
Grover cackled at nothing in particular. "Oh, yeah, he definitely has a sugar-high," Loralai commented. Percy furrowed his brows and smirked. "You mean a sugar rush, Lava?" Annabeth looked confused as Loralai waved him off. "Same thing, Seaweed Brain."
"I feel good," Grover announced loudly. "I love this palace." Without even realizing it, the wings sprouted out of his shoes and lifted him a foot off the ground, then back down again. Nothing batted an eye.
"So what now?" Annabeth asked, eyeing Loralai. "Sleep?" The boys looked at each other and grinned, both holding up their green plastic LotusCash cards. "Play time," Percy said.
-
SAFE TO SAY, the Lotus Casino was, at first, the best place ever!
Loralai had gone straight to a game where you were able to test different structural materials of buildings and see how they help up in various natural disasters.
The next game she played was one where she could learn how things like escalators and other fascinating technology worked, and how to make it herself. The game was practically: make an engineering solution to this problem in 5 minutes. To her delight, she had passed every level so far.
When she first noticed something was wrong, a tall man approached her. He looked to be a Latino man, fairly tall with a pair of old-fashioned 1930s glasses. That wasn't what surprised her, though, it was the fact that he was wearing a small brown fedora and a brown zoot suit to match. He looked straight out of a World War II period drama.
He had approached her midway eating a burger to say that he was impressed by her innovation, and that she reminded him of his father. He said that he was here on business, and that a young dame with talent like hers should be in a factory, not school. The man had also said that she reminded him of his wife. Hesitantly, she thanked him.
The man then went on to say that the technology here was so advanced, he didn't know why they hadn't used it to stop another World War from happening, as there was so much tension between countries lately. Loralai asked him what he meant. Surely this man didn't know about the summer solstice?
He looked confused, wiping ketchup off his mouth with a Lotus casino napkin. He said in a Southern accent, "Well, dear, we don't want a repeat of World War I, don't you think?"
Loralai froze, partly from the news that he was far behind on the times, and partly from the way she felt she somewhat recognized the man. "What's your name, sir?" She asked him.
"Ricardo," he told her, "Ricardo Valdez." Loralai nodded slowly. "Right, Ricardo. What year is it? I get terribly mixed up nowadays," she asked, trying to stop her voice from shaking. "Why, it's 1938," he said and played with his curly mustache.
Loralai wanted to sprint away, to find Percy and Annabeth and Grover and get out of there. But, Ricardo had been so nice and so... well, so fatherly that she couldn't just leave him there.
So, she had dragged him with her, saying that they had to get out of there. Luckily the man didn't protest, instead muttering things about how kids' foolish games were so elaborate in this day and age and fiddling with the green LotusCash card in his hands.
As she was running, she struggled to remember why she was here. They were supposed to go to the Underworld, she had just got claimed by... Hephaestus. For a scary moment, she couldn't remember her father's name. All she knew was that she had to find her friends, and stop Hades from causing World War III.
Suddenly, a boy around her age, with jet black hair, crashed into her. She would've sat straight on her butt if Ricardo wasn't behind her to steady her. "Percy," Loralai said breathlessly, panting. "This is a trap."
Percy looked at her, then at Ricardo and nodded. He didn't question why Loralai was helping this man escape alongside them. "I know," he replied.
The three of them all ran to Annabeth, shaking her out of trance proved harder than they thought. Fortunately, Loralai mentioned spiders and it jarred her out of playing her Build A City game pretty swiftly. "Oh my gods," Annabeth said. "How long have we-"
"We don't know," Loralai interrupted. "But we have to find Grover."
They went searching, and found him playing Virtual Deer Hunter. "Grover!" Percy shouted.
He said, "Die, human! Die, silly, polluting nasty person!" The satyr turned the plastic gun on Percy and started clicking, as if he were just another image from the screen. "Grover," Percy said again, but the satyr just continued to 'shoot'.
The kids all shared a look, and together they took Grover by the arms and dragged him away. His flying shoes sprang to life and started tugging his legs in the other direction as he shouted, "No! I just got to a new level! No!"
The Lotus bellhop hurried up to them. "Well, now, are you ready for your platinum cards?" Firmly, Percy told him, "We're leaving."
"Such a shame," he said, and they got the feeling that he really meant it, that they'd be breaking his heart if they went. "Such a loyal customer," the bellhop said to Ricardo, who just scowled at him.
Ricardo had pretty much caught on to what was happening when Loralai was asking people left and right what the year was when they were searching for Annabeth and Grover.
The bellhop turned to the children. "We just added an entire new floor full of games for platinum-card members." He held out the cards, and Loralai wanted one. She knew that if she took one, she'd be stuck here forever playing games. Happy forever. It was a tempting offer, but she refused and the bellhop frowned.
Grover reached for the card anyway, but Annabeth yanked back his arm and said, "No, thanks."
They walked towards the door, and as they did, the smell of the food and the sounds of the games seemed to get more and more inviting. Loralai thought about their room upstairs. The soft beds, the endless supply of food. Maybe they could just sleep there one more night...
Then they burst through the doors of the Lotus Casino and ran down the sidewalk. It felt like afternoon, about the same time of day they'd gone into the casino, but something was wrong. The weather had completely changed. It was stormy, with heat lightning flashing out in the desert.
The Ares backpack was slung over Percy's shoulder, which was odd, because Loralai swore she threw it into the trash in room 4001. At that moment, there were bigger things to worry about. Ricardo looked like he was having a panic attack and their quest was at risk of loosing it's most valuable assistance: time.
This was definitely not the same Las Vegas as the 1930s. Loralai tried to comfort him, saying that the cars and cities are practically the same, just different designs. She placed a hand on his shoulder comfortingly and his mouth abruptly fell open. "My wife, my beautiful daughter," he muttered in shock.
Loralai almost took a step away. They'd be dead. She didn't know how to break the news. "I'm sure you'll find a relative, where'd you say you were from?" She asked.
"Houston, Texas," Ricardo said. "Everything's bigger in Texas, including families. You'll find someone Ricardo," Loralai told him, forcing a smile.
She grabbed the Lotus casino napkin he had used to wipe his mouth and Ricardo offered her a pen out of his suit. She wrote down the Camp Half-blood address and her full name. "If you need support, write to me." Ricardo took the napkin and stuffed it in his pocket with a wavering but grateful smile.
In the meantime, Percy ran over to the nearest newspaper stand and read the year first. Thank the gods, it was the same year it had been when they went in. Then he noticed the date: June twentieth. They had been in the Lotus Casino for five days.
They only had one day left until the summer solstice. One day to complete their quest.
-
(a/n)
- OK NOW WE HAVE A TWO NEW MYSTERIES: who is that woman in the dream? why is ricardo valdez relevant? and no it's not his last name.
- hope u enjoyed! REMEMBER TO VOTE AND INTERACT AND COMMENT AND DO ANYTHING THAT'LL SUPPORT THIS BOOK, IT'S RLLY APPRECIATED!
-also im bringing back fun facts.
funfact of this chapter: rats are ticklish, they'll laugh if you tickle them
-eustelia
wordcount: 7019
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